Blogging 101 | Photography

It’s Week 2 of Blogging 101! Last week I went over the basic nuts and bolts of your blog (who you are and why you’re blogging) so this week, I decided we should take things into the visual realm – photography to be exact! While the tips I’m sharing today are more geared toward fashion bloggers, getting some photog skills under your belt will help in almost any industry of blogging, whether it’s food, decor or travel. Now full disclosure – other than a couple classes in journo school, I have no formal education or training when it comes to photography. Anything Matt (who takes most of my pictures) and I have learnt is entirely self-taught. Having said that, the fact that I could learn so much in three years is really the beauty of photography. It’s a passion and hobby that yields real results and that you really can see growth in, so long as you keep shooting and trying new things!

So without further ado, here are a few little tips and tricks that Matt and I rely heavily on – don’t forget to download the entire package (also available for download below) which has more information and tips in it!

{ lighting }

You don’t have to be a reader of mine for long to know that I love love lovebacklighting. It is 110% my favourite kind of light to shoot in, which is really an entirely personal thing – most of my fellow blogettes prefer the more stable, photography-friendly cloud coverage (which I love too) but there’s something about backlighting that really gets me every time.

Obviously, unless you have a studio, the lighting you get is entirely weather-dependent. Having said that, I would really try to time yourself as well as possible to get the best light each day (usually in the last few hours of the day, also known as golden hour on sunny days).

I’m putting lighting up here first because once you have good lighting, you’re golden. Yes, you should consider composition and framing as well (I touch on both in the downloadable package below) but if you have good lighting, you can get tight in on your subject and still have amazing pictures, even with a less-than-incredible background.

A note on the little diagram above – when I say put the photographer in the shade for the second backlighting option, that can be any shade – even if it’s just a pole! Matt and I have literally shot in places where the sun was strong behind me and he stayed tucked behind a mere inches of shade being thrown off by a branch, leaving me to just move closer or further away depending on our frame – I won’t get technical on you (plus I don’t know enough to really delve into the topic that much) but keeping the camera in controlled, dim light helps with its light sensitivity and yields more detailed, contrast-rich images.

However if you do get lucky and happen upon some beautiful golden hour lighting, please do yourself a favour and take full advantage of it. Because the sun is at a perfect angle (creating that impossible-to-create heavy golden light), with both the subject and photographer in the sun, you can really achieve some stunning sun-filled shots.

{ shot list cheat sheet }

While I’d encourage you to try any and all angles and frames (sometimes you’ll randomly create a new favourite or cool effect), there are four frames that I know to achieve for each post: a full length, a 3/4 shot, a chest-up shot (or if I’m doing something special beauty-wise, a closer frame on my face) and finally, a detail shot that focuses in on jewelry, accessories, etc. I can add in a gazillion other cool angles between these four but even if I can just come up with these four shots in a few minutes, I’m set!

Download the full package above to get the lighting tips, the shot list cheat sheet and a couple more tricks! Also, I’m curious – do you guys have any photography tips that you’ve developed over the years?

I really hope you guys are liking this blogging tips series so far – my main goal is just to give you guys as much real value for your blogs’ development as well, so if there’s anything I’m missing or that you’d like to see more of, please let me know in the comments below or email me at tovogueorbust [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com!

Your lighting flow-chart is perfect!! I'm definitely going to download and print it for my husband (who is my photographer!) as a cheat sheet…he's one of those guys who does better with visuals than the written word!! 😉

Hey beauty! So strange – I know it’s not displaying previews because it’s a big file, but there should still be a download button! Let me know if it’s still giving you problems and I’ll try compressing the file size 🙂 xo

I think it must be something with my computer because I'm able to download it on my phone 🙂 Thanks so much for putting this together! I just got a new camera and I'm trying to learn all about it. Your post is very useful!